European Crisis
Europe's titanic: A quick glimpse from a tiny inflatable off Crete's southern coast
, 15/07/2011
This is, I warn you dear reader, no proper post. Written on a tiny inflatable boat off the southern Cretan coast, where my phone occasionally links up to civilised society, I manage to pick up signals from a predictably distressed Europe. Of these signals, two stuck out, emitted by two ministers of finance: Italy’s and […]
James Galbraith on the European Project's critical moment
, 09/07/2011
James Galbraith kindly sent me the following piece, commissioned by DW, with the premission to reproduce it here. It is both a timely and an astute piece entitled Unless it’s reformed, Europe’s project is doomed. Enjoy:
George Momferratos, on how best to promote the Modest Proposal
, 09/07/2011
Extracts from an intervention, on the Modest Proposal and how best to avoid negative reactions to it (especially here in Greece) from George Momferratos. See also below for my response. What do readers think? Your input will be appreciated.
American Common Sense on Europe: The NYT largely adopting the logic of the Modest Proposal, and even Jeffrey Sachs making sympathetic noises
, 07/07/2011
For some time the rest of the world has been finding it hard to follow the passionate infighting in the US over the federal budget. Only two years after Barrack Obama’s landslide, the United States became, effectively, ungovernable. The current standoff regarding the mystical (to non-Americans) debt ceiling causes a mixture of consternation and incredulity […]
FALSITY MOST FOUL: Why Jean Claude Juncker is precisely, and inexcusably, wrong regarding the Greek crisis and its causes
, 07/07/2011
Jean Claude Juncker has, in the past, taken courageous positions that exuded far-sightedness.[1] However, his latest intervention regarding the Greek debt crisis reveals a serious inability to grasp the euro crisis in its entirety. On 3rd July he told Focus Magazin that "[t]he sovereignty of Greece will be massively limited", referring of course to the [...]How much for your children? Discussing the Greek crisis on the Keiser Report
, 06/07/2011
Interviewed by Max Keiser for the Keiser Report. Click here and go to 14′
Declaration by distinguished former European Leaders in Support of the Modest Proposal’s main tenets: The urgent need for a fresh New Deal for Europe
, 04/07/2011
Europe’s most serious deficit is political. A dearth of political will, democratic legitimacy and purposeful, farsighted leadership is responsible for the Eurozone’s repeated failures to get to grip with the Crisis’ different manifestations. Proposals like that our own Modest Proposal, of Tremonti-Yuncker and others offered Europe obvious alternatives to the current policy mix which exacerbates […]
Radio and TV interviews on the Euro/Greek Crisis and the Modest Proposal. Plus an announcement…
, 03/07/2011
For those interested, a number of links to recent radio and TV interviews on the latest twists and turns of the Greek-euro crisis follow: In conversation with Trevor Chappell, on ABC Radio National (27 June 2011) Interviewed in the As It Happens leading news and current affairs program of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) – […]
The Modest Proposal featured in UBS Client Magazine (Wealth Management Research) and in Basler Zeitung (Swiss Financial Newspaper)
, 30/06/2011
That these are turbulent times I need not remind you of. But when ‘radical’ views (like our Modest Proposal) are (A) endorsed by, on the one hand, demonstrators on the streets of Athens (whom I addressed in past weeks) and (B) promoted by banking colossus UBS in its recent Wearlth Management Research […]
Presenting the case for the Modest Proposal on Irish and Scottish radio, plus a BBC World Service debate with Daniel Gros and a German based colleague (in which a surprising degree of agreement was reached)
, 19/06/2011
Newstalk Dublin, interviewed (extensively) on the Modest Proposal by Karen Coleman, for a program called Wide Angle (Sunday 19th June 2011) [GO TO PART B: From 3′ onwards] http://media.newstalk.ie/listenback/229/sunday/1/popup BBC Radio Scotland, longish interview by Ken McDonald on the Greek Crisis, in which I present the Modest Proposal, without naming it. A pleasant experience, making […]
The penny may be dropping? Five interviews/debates in which yours truly struggles to make a self-evident point (Al Jazeera, BBC, ABC, Bloomberg, Die Zeit)
, 17/06/2011
During the past 24 hours I was involved in a large number of interviews with non-Greek media outlets. For those interested, a collection of links is provided below. The main reason for bothering you with these interviews is that they reveal a gradual Gestalt shift. Whereas a year ago no one in the media took […]
The European conundrum (as I experienced it in a TV debate last night)
, 16/06/2011
Permit me dear reader to say nothing about the farce unfolding in Athens presently, except perhaps to comment that when an economy unravels its political regime follows. Today’s post concerns a TV debate in which I participated yesterday. It was hosted by the French global channel France24 and featured two French economists, myself and a […]
Crisis Update: Three interviews on the Euro Crisis, the Greek Crisis and the Modest Proposal (Radio, TV and print)
, 12/06/2011
UBS Interview promoting the modest Proposal And the crisis sails on… (Anyone recall Fellini’s masterpiece “And the ship sails on”?). In todays post you can: (A) listen to a half-hour long radio interview on the euro crisis (interviewed by Doug Henwood, for the Behind the News program – it begins on the 27th minute), (B) […]
The New York Times’ article on our Modest Proposal: My reaction
, 09/06/2011
As regulars of this blog know, its initial purpose was to promote a different way of thinking about the global, euro and Greek crisis and, in particular, to present what Stuart Holland and I call the Modest Proposal for Overcoming the Euro Crisis. (See also the plethora of supporting posts here.) Today, the New York […]
Article in Die Zeit, promoting the Modest Proposal
, 13/05/2011
A couple of days ago, Die Zeit kindly invited me to write an article expounding the virtues of the Modest Proposal for Overcoming the Euro Crisis in view of the Der Spiegel article that raised the alarm regarding Greece’scurrent predicament. In effect, Die Zeit gave me a forum from which to argue that this is […]
James Galbraith links that which Bernanke did not say with the European banking crisis
, 28/04/2011
In a recent tv interview (click here) Jamie Galbraith was asked to list the questions that he would have put to Ben Bernanke (were he able to monopolise the Fed Chairman’s press conference). Galbraith made a large number of interesting points (frased in the form of questions), including (a) a brilliant criticism of S&R’s recent […]
The Modest Proposal for Overcoming the Euro Crisis, Version 2.2
, 06/04/2011
Only a few days’ worth of developments made it necessary to update, yet again, the Modest Proposal. The new text we are putting out today is quite different from Version 2.1. So much so that we toyed with the idea of labelling it Version 3.0. But we shall keep that label in abeyance for later. […]
Progress report on The Modest Proposal: Widespread support has come its way. Plus, the Levy Institute has adopted it as a Policy Paper
, 31/03/2011
Since Version 2.1 of the Modest Proposal was published here on 24th March, the demands on our time have been extraordinary. Thus, no posts. But the good news is that the Proposal has, since then, been received with considerable approval in various, largely unexpected, quarters. The Greek Trades Union Council (GSEE) have committed themselves to […]
Would the implementation of the Modest Proposal 2.0 require a change in the Maastricht and Lisbon Treaties? And what about Bini Smaghi's proposal to create a European agency that issues centrally all government bonds?
, 17/03/2011
These are two questions posed by Jan Toporowski in a recent communication. In this post I offer brief answers:
What should we do with Europe's zombie banks?
, 16/03/2011
I think that regular readers can predict my answer. It is the one that in fact any banker would, in a fit of honesty, give you: Non-performing loans must be deleted from the banks’ books. Same with derivatives that stand no chance of finding a market/buyer. These nonperforming paper assets weigh banks down and ensure […]
Modest Proposal 2.0, as presented at the European Party of the Left Athens Conference, on 12th March 2011
, 15/03/2011
This post is for those of you who wanted to read my presentation of the Modest Proposal Version 2.0 at the conference on the Debt Crisis organised by the European Party of the Left, 12th March 2011, in downtown Athens. The text follows. (As it happened, a dearth of headphones meant that most of the […]
A MODEST PROPOSAL FOR OVERCOMING THE EURO CRISIS, Version 2.0
, 11/03/2011
A few months ago, Stuart Holland and I tabled our Modest Proposal for Overcoming the Euro Crisis. Then we gave it a redux for the New Year. As the Crisis is deepening, and in view of the forthcoming 25th March EU Summit which, we were promised, was meant to culminate into a Comprehensive Solution for […]
Further debate on the Modest Proposal for the Resolution of the Euro Crisis
, 16/01/2011
JG, a regular contributor to this blog (see here and here) and ex City of London banker, suggested to me that Step 1 of the Modest Proposal should be rethought in the context of the experience with Brady bonds; the financial instruments US Treasury Secretary Nicholas Brady devised in order to tackle the Debt Crisis […]
Two challenges to the Modest Proposal Redux
, 14/01/2011
Soon after posting the 2011 version of the Modest Proposal, I received two repudiations: One from a convivial ex banker (whose views have appeared on this blog before) and one from my comrade-in-arms, George Krimpas. Their objections are important and this is why I am posting them here, along with my answers.